In the past, various different apparatus and methods have been utilized to effect the edgewise winding of lanced strips of generally thin ferromagnetic material into edgewise wound cores or stators for a dynamoelectric or electric motor. Of course, the aforementioned lanced strips were provided with a pair of opposite edges extending generally lengthwise thereof, and a yoke section was formed along one of the opposite edges with a plurality of spaced apart teeth extending generally laterally from the yoke section toward the other of the opposite edges of the strip. These lanced strips were edgewise wound into a plurality of helical convolutions thereof, and such helical convolutions were accumulated in a generally annular stack having a preselected stack height thereby to define the aforementioned edgewise wound core. Of course, when the helical convolutions of the lanced strips were accumulated in the annular stack thereof, the yoke section of the lanced strip extended generally circumferentially about the annular stack, and the teeth extended generally radially inwardly from the yoke section in a plurality of row formations thereof across the annular stack with tips of the teeth defining in part a bore through the annular stack.
Some of the aforementioned past edgewise winding techniques were, of course, successful; however, it is believed that such success was limited to lanced strips in which the width of the yoke section was relatively small or narrow. In other words, during the edgewise winding of lanced strips into the helical convolutions thereof, the yoke section was rather highly stressed, both in tensile and compression, and thereby tended to deflect or buckle in a direction generally perpendicular to the plane of the yoke section, and it is believed that one of the disadvantageous or undesirable features which occurred during the past edgewise winding of the lanced strip was the aforementioned buckling of the yoke section in response to the tensile and compressive stresses imparted thereto. Thus, it is believed that the aforementioned buckling of the yoke section in response to the stresses imparted thereto under the past edgewise winding technique were accentuated or increased when yoke sections of relatively greater widths were employed in the lance strip so as to obviate successful edgewise winding thereof. In an effort to overcome this buckling problem, particularly with respect to lanced strips having the aforementioned relatively wider yoke sections, opposed side plates were urged into engagement with the opposite faces of the lanced strip during the edgewise winding thereof, but it is believed that such use of the side plates has not been entirely satisfactory to solve the aforementioned buckling problem.